# One for the Guys: Ever Get a Straight Edge Razor Shave from the Barber? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915 "2012-08-08T23:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/21 "2012-08-09T02:53:59Z")
Straight Edge Razor Shave - yes, from the barber - No. I actually go to a salon owned by a woman I went to high school with, so it is done by a very attractive girl. Hot towels, face shave, facial massage, shave the back of the neck, neck and shoulder massage, more hot towels. Soooo relaxing. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/22 "2012-08-09T03:03:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It would be like hiring someone to steam your asshole after you take a shit and wipe it down for you with the finest cotton towels. Sure, it would work but it is a overly indulgent and completely unnecessary. Have them apply the mint chapstick at the end. You’ll be a true convert! ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/23 "2012-08-09T04:30:32Z")
In the aftermath of AIDS most states prohibit shaving more than one person with the same blade. So barbers who still give straight razor shaves use straight razors that take disposable blades. These blades are very sharp though. The ones made by Feather in Japan are much sharper and more unforgiving than even the best old school and stropped straight razor. [High end shave at The Art of Shaving in New York.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcOwpzJuShA) [Lower end shave at Hawleywood’s Barber Shop in California.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPXIFczXL2c) (Donnie Hawley is using a Feather brand razor in this video - about $250, plus blades.) Hawleywood’s are very cool old school barber shops complete with Pabst beer, Playboys and Rockabilly haircuts if desired for the customers. The idea is that it’s a place where guys can go to be guys. There’s even a bar and pool parlour for regular customers hidden behind a secret door. (There are rules though. Women are not allowed. Neither are men wearing ankle socks or fanny packs. Seriously.) Check out some of Hawleywood’s other Youtube vids if you want to learn more about them. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/24 "2012-08-09T04:37:47Z")
Yes. Once, by a professional Barber. That was enough for me. Terribly nerve-wracking. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/25 "2012-08-09T04:46:38Z")
Do people actually still wear fanny packs? \ ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/26 "2012-08-09T04:52:59Z")
Sure - everytime I go to the barber in Dubai. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/27 "2012-08-09T05:18:13Z")
I wear one when I’m cycling to keep my ID, money and cell phone in. I wear ankle socks and bike shorts too. Don’t think I’d be drinking any Pabst with Donnie in that getup. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/28 "2012-08-09T05:26:14Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > In the aftermath of AIDS most states prohibit shaving more than one person with the same blade. So barbers who still give straight razor shaves use straight razors that take disposable blades. Can you name some states that prohibit straight edges? Googling I only found one so that hardly qualifies as most. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/29 "2012-08-09T05:33:09Z")
Asking **Starving Artist** for a cite? You must be new. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/30 "2012-08-09T05:35:29Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Asking **Starving Artist** for a cite? You must be new. I know it’s a hopeless endeavor but it’s the humble opinion forum. Maybe this time it will be different. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/31 "2012-08-09T06:30:40Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Can you name some states that prohibit straight edges? Nope, no cite. It’s just something my barber told me years ago, which seems substantiated by the fact that no barber shave I’ve ever seen on Youtube is done with a traditional straight razor (and I looked at a lot when I was teaching myself how to shave with one). If you know of some other reason why so many barbers would opt for the additional expense and inconvience of purchasing and using disposable blades rather than simply using a traditional straight razor whose blade lasts for years if not decades, I’d be interested to hear the rationale. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/32 "2012-08-09T06:38:38Z")
Yes - up until 2003 I used to go cross town to my favorite barber who used to do a cut, hot towel shave with a straight razor, and follow up with a scalp, neck, and shoulder massage using a vibrator attachment that strapped on his hand and looked to have been made someone in the early sixties, just like everything else in his shop. (the chairs had flip top ashtrays in the arms!) I miss that guy- he had a heart attack and sold his shop to someone who turned it into a salon that was indistinguishable from every other salon in town. Blah. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/33 "2012-08-09T06:46:52Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There’s just one place around, that I know of. And he doesn’t have the steam box for the towels either. But he does have the old fashioned shaving cream dispenser. I thought they stirred it up in a cup and applied it with a badger-hair brush. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > It would be like hiring someone to steam your asshole after you take a shit and wipe it down for you with the finest cotton towels. Sure, it would work but it is a overly indulgent and completely unnecessary. What you really want to use is the neck of a goose. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/34 "2012-08-09T06:51:46Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Yes - up until 2003 I used to go cross town to my favorite barber who used to do a cut, hot towel shave with a straight razor, and follow up with a scalp, neck, and shoulder massage using a vibrator attachment that strapped on his hand and looked to have been made someone in the early sixties, just like everything else in his shop. (the chairs had flip top ashtrays in the arms!) > > I miss that guy- he had a heart attack and sold his shop to someone who turned it into a salon that was indistinguishable from every other salon in town. Blah. I remember those vibrators. Haven’t seen one since…I’m figuring the 70s. I got the deluxe package once that included the scalp massage. Most of the time I wouldn’t let them cut my hair, I just went in for the shave. But if I had a job interview coming up I’d go all out. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/35 "2012-08-09T07:09:20Z")
Yes, once every 3-4 weeks every time I get my haircut. In Japan, it’s been standard practice in the two barber shops I have been loyal to since I first arrived in 1995. Here is the procedure: 1. Apply shaving gel lightly by hand. 2. Lay hot towel over covered area. (wait about 30 seconds while barber is making shaving cream using some pink liquid and hot water.) 3. Remove towel. 4. Shaving brush(?) used to swirl the mixture into a cream. 5. Apply shaving cream. 6. Shave with straight edge razor. (mustache and beard area, sideburns, around the eyebrows, etc.) 7. Apply after shave and hot towel for another 30 sec. Done and very smooth. In over 15 years, I never had a noticeable nick or cut. And in my case, I don’t have to shave for a whole two days later. Yippee! Total bill: Cut, shave, shampoo and head massage… JPY1,900 (US$24.20) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/36 "2012-08-09T10:34:47Z")
I’ve had one involuntarily. Well, kind of. When I was in Cambodia I needed a haircut and found a barber shop. The front was open to the street and it had lots of pictures on the wall of men with Brylcreemed hairstyles, cut out from old magazines. Once the guy had finished the haircut he flipped the lever that reclined the big dentist-style chair and pulled out a great big razor blade. (He didn’t speak English, and my Khmer, truthfully, ain’t all it should be 😉 ) I figured either I was going to get a decent shave, or me and my wallet (and possibly one or both of my kidneys) were soon going to be distant acquaintances. Fortunately, it was the former, and the whole lot (haircut and all) cost 50 US cents. Actually $1, as I didn’t have change! It was certainly the smoothest and closest shave I’ve ever had, and totally painless, but I did keep veeeerrry still. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/37 "2012-08-09T13:02:16Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought they stirred it up in a cup and applied it with a badger-hair brush. Yes, in my childhood during the 1890s that’s what they used when I got a shave. > [@](#): > > What you really want to use is the neck of a goose. That will work for a human, but not a bear. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/38 "2012-08-09T13:12:20Z")
Not a full shave but my barber does some tidying up of the goatee, sideburns and back of the neck with a straight razor (which, FTR, has a disposable blade). Admittedly the back of the neck area tends to feel a bit raw afterwards but no blood drawn yet. He also singes my ear hairs with FIRE, which always makes for a dramatic moment, but again he has yet to actually burn me so I let him keep doing it. ETA: **TriPolar** , [badger hair brushes](http://www.theenglishshavingcompany.com/english-shaving-tools-of-the-trade-brushes.html) are still used by many fine tonsorial establishments. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/39 "2012-08-09T13:19:00Z")
Best shave ever, I love em **CAPT** ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915/40 "2012-08-09T13:23:49Z")
My barber uses a straight razor on the back of my neck after a cut. And it feels great. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-for-the-guys-ever-get-a-straight-edge-razor-shave-from-the-barber/630915.md?page=3)